A servomechanism is comprised of an actuator comprising a servomotor and a reduction gear, and a servo driver for servo-controlling the actuator on the basis of an output from an encoder attached to the actuator. There are line-saving encoders and 14-line encoders, and both types of encoders include incremental encoders and absolute encoders that can detect absolute positions.
Servo drivers commonly have their specifications set so that the actuator is servo controlled based on the output signal from a prescribed type of encoder. Therefore, when the type of encoder attached to the actuator is different, the servo driver that is combined with the actuator must also be modified.
Thus, the actuator and servo driver combination is determined by the type of encoder. It is therefore inconvenient that the servo driver must be modified when the encoder is of a different type, even if the servomotor and reduction gear comprising the actuator are the same. Since various servo drivers must also be prepared in accordance with the type of encoder, there is a drawback in that the cost effectiveness is poor.